PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lilian Gonsalves
AU  - Edward C. Covington
AU  - Thomas Broughan
AU  - Kathleen O. Currie
AU  - Charles Pippenger
AU  - John Raaf
AU  - Joanne Schneider
AU  - Kirk Shepard
AU  - Ramesh Sogal
TI  - Patient-controIled analgesia for postcholecystectomy pain: a pilot study
DP  - 1990 Jan 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - 57--59
VI  - 57
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/57/1/57.1.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/57/1/57.1.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med1990 Jan 01; 57
AB  - Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is designed to avoid both excessive and inadequate analgesia in postoperative pain by allowing the patient self-administration of intravenous narcotics within a range of parameters established by the physician. Of 24 patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy referred to our study over a 12-month period, 11 were assigned to PCA and eight successfully completed the study. Most of them had good analgesia, were satisfied with PCA, and had no evidence of confusion, psychic distress, or visual-motor impairment. Serum morphine concentrations of 10 - 30 ng/mL were sufficient to obtain good analgesia in six of eight patients. Complications included severe respiratory depression and abdominal cramps.